Desolate Devouring Art - Chapter 1605 - Seven-Treasure Glazed Stone
Chapter 1605 – Seven-Treasure Glazed Stone
No matter who stood right or wrong, the sect could never forgive two elders at the pinnacle of the Heaven Gaze Realm for clashing openly. How were the disciples supposed to feel after witnessing such a scene? How could the Immortal Slaughter Palace hold its ground in the future after that humiliation?
Niu Yichang and Gong Yangbo realized their mistake at once, and they lowered their heads.
“As for the injured, carry them back for treatment. If you need any treasure, go and search for it in the vault,” the palace lord said, waving his hand as he rose to leave.
Liu Wuxie had remained awake the entire time. This should have been his first time seeing the Immortal Slaughter Palace’s palace lord in person, yet one glance told him the man was an overlord.
He tilted his head slightly, and his eyes narrowed at once when he spotted the Hunchbacked Elder a thousand meters away.
“What is the Grand Unity Sect’s Hunchbacked Elder doing in the Immortal Slaughter Palace?” Liu Wuxie wondered, his brows drawing tight. The Hunchbacked Elder showing up here brought him nothing but trouble.
The Grand Unity Sect had played a key role in the Nalan Clan’s counterfeit pills. Without the Grand Unity Sect helping the Nalan Clan procure spiritual herbs in massive quantities, the Nalan Clan could never have produced thirty thousand pills in a single day. The three superpowers had already collided long ago.
The Hunchbacked Elder noticed Liu Wuxie and turned to look over, and Liu Wuxie shut his eyes immediately.
In the Laman Astral Domain, almost no one had seen the Hunchbacked Elder’s true face, and anyone who had seen it before had practically died for it.
The Hunchbacked Elder had crossed paths with him before, and he could recognize Liu Wuxie with a single look. Even with his eyes closed, Liu Wuxie could still feel that scorching gaze raking over him repeatedly.
The Hunchbacked Elder frowned faintly. For some reason, he found the youth lying on the ground oddly familiar, yet he couldn’t recall where he had seen him. After a moment, he shook his head. The Immortal Slaughter Palace always acted with caution, and it made no sense for them to let Liu Wuxie slip inside.
Besides, no one could fake the true essence. What he didn’t know was that after comprehending the unity with heaven and earth’s profundity, Liu Wuxie could alter his body at will. Only by drawing on his power at the Earth Immortal Realm would he reveal his real true essence. Right now, he only displayed the Origin Conversion Realm, and ordinary true essence sufficed.
“Elder Quan, forgive the embarrassment. Let’s go back and continue our discussion,” the palace lord said, guiding the Hunchbacked Elder back to the main hall.
Elder Niu carried Liu Wuxie away from the scene. As Meng Hong had already reached the fourth-level Void Realm, he had only suffered some lingering shock, and his injuries would heal with a few days of rest.
Back on the mountain, Niu Yichang kept treating Liu Wuxie’s wounds. Liu Wuxie’s internal organs had mostly healed, yet a few cracks stubbornly refused to mend.
“Master, there’s no need to keep feeding me with true essence. My body won’t recover anymore,” Liu Wuxie said after he “regained” consciousness. He made those cracks sound permanent, as though they would eventually ruin his cultivation.
Niu Yichang frowned. He had already fed Liu Wuxie spiritual herbs and even used true essence to guide the healing. By all logic, Liu Wuxie should have fully recovered by now, so why did those cracks refuse to close? The situation made no sense.
“I’ll take you to the Heavenly Aquatic Pool,” Niu Yichang said without hesitation. He immediately wrapped Liu Wuxie in true essence and left the mountain, carrying him straight toward the Heavenly Aquatic Pool.
The moment Liu Wuxie heard “Heavenly Aquatic Pool,” he laughed to himself. The sect guarded it as one of its deepest secrets. Rumors had it that the Heavenly Aquatic Pool contained boundless energy, and even someone at the Heaven Gaze Realm couldn’t enter easily. Elder Niu truly went all out for his disciple.
Liu Wuxie didn’t know much about the Heavenly Aquatic Pool because Meng Hong had never stepped inside.
They crossed several mountain ranges. The farther they traveled, the more remote the land became, and cold air seeped from every direction.
A massive palace appeared ahead. Anyone who wanted to reach the Heavenly Aquatic Pool had to pass through that palace.
“Elder Niu, what brings you here?” an elder guarding the Heavenly Aquatic Pool asked, hurrying out to greet Niu Yichang warmly.
After all, anyone at the pinnacle of the Heaven Gaze Realm stood at the top of the sect.
“I want to use the Heavenly Aquatic Pool,” Elder Niu said, stating his intent openly. He trusted that only the Heavenly Aquatic Pool could truly repair his disciple’s body.
“That isn’t allowed according to the rules. Only those who have the palace lord’s permit can enter the Heavenly Aquatic Pool,” the guarding elder said with a troubled expression.
Even the palace lord couldn’t enter the Heavenly Aquatic Pool casually because the water inside was far too precious.
“The palace lord has already granted permission, but the order just hasn’t arrived. We’ll enter first, and the order will arrive soon,” Elder Niu said as he carried on, holding Liu Wuxie in his embrace.
The palace lord had said both sides could take whatever treasure they needed from the vault to treat their disciples’ injuries. He hadn’t mentioned whether the Heavenly Aquatic Pool counted, and Niu Yichang deliberately played dumb.
“Since that’s the case, there’s no need to rush. Elder Niu, it’s best if you wait here,” the guarding elder said, stepping in to bar Niu Yichang’s entry.
“You dare to stand in my way?!” Elder Niu roared. The elder guarding this place had only reached the Earth Immortal Realm, and he instinctively stepped back under Niu Yichang’s pressure.
“Elder Niu, please calm down. I’m only following the protocols, and I seek your forgiveness,” the elder pleaded.
Niu Yichang’s reputation for his fiery temper had spread throughout the sect, and he had no family or friends to restrain him. No one benefited from offending him.
“If his condition worsens, don’t blame me for being ruthless,” Niu Yichang warned before pushing forward. The guarding elder couldn’t stop him at all.
“Elder Niu, don’t blame me for being impolite if you continue to force your way in,” the guarding elder warned. Although he was only at the Earth Immortal Realm, he had his own means to deal with the situation. If he activated the spiritual array here, even someone at the pinnacle of the Heaven Gaze Realm wouldn’t take another step.
“Oh? Show me how you’re going to be impolite then,” Niu Yichang said, his bull temper flaring. In his mind, nothing could stop him from reaching the Heavenly Aquatic Pool, not even the palace lord.
The guarding elder’s face turned ashen. Yet he couldn’t do anything. If he truly activated the spiritual array, he would only enrage Elder Niu further.
“Elder Niu, please don’t make things difficult for me,” the elder pleaded. He couldn’t force Niu Yichang back, and he knew Niu Yichang would never yield to threats.
“I won’t make things difficult for you, and I will take full responsibility if anything happens. If the palace lord questions you, tell him that I injured you and forced my way in,” Elder Niu said. Before the other elder could respond, Niu Yichang flashed forward and vanished into the palace.
The guarding elder stomped in frustration. He hurriedly sealed the palace and rushed off to report to the palace lord.
Elder Niu passed through the main hall, and a massive pool appeared ahead, filled with ink-green water. Terrifying energy churned within it, and Liu Wuxie could sense the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron stirring before he even drew close.
“This place contains terrifying immortal energy,” Liu Wuxie thought. He had taken ten immortal stones from Peach Blossom Cave and consumed two of them.
Immortal stones could strengthen immortal energy, but they couldn’t directly push Liu Wuxie into a breakthrough. Yet the energy in this lake felt even more terrifying than he had expected, and he knew some treasure hid beneath the pool.
Beyond immortal energy, he sensed pure yang energy, along with the Primordial Indigo Aura. Those forces were unbelievably rare, and here they had been woven together.
Joy flooded Liu Wuxie’s heart. “What a perfect place. As long as I can absorb them, I’ll be able to make my breakthrough to the ninth-level Earth Immortal Realm.”
He had been searching for a path to reach the ninth-level Earth Immortal Realm, yet he had stumbled into this opportunity so unexpectedly. The higher his cultivation climbed, the more the laws of heaven and earth restrained him.
Just like on the True Martial Continent, his cultivation would eventually stall once he reached a certain level because the world could no longer contain him. The same principle applied in the astral domains. He had reached the eighth-level Earth Immortal Realm, yet his laws already rivaled those at the pinnacle of the Heaven Gaze Realm. Those shackles would only tighten, making future breakthroughs harder.
“You cultivate here for two hours, and your injuries should recover by then. I’ll stand guard outside,” Niu Yichang said, setting Liu Wuxie down and instructing him to enter the pool and cultivate.
“Thank you, Master!” Liu Wuxie said, already understanding that Niu Yichang would keep watch to block intruders.
He stripped without hesitation and slipped into the Heavenly Aquatic Pool. Two hours wasn’t much time, so he needed to devour as much energy as possible. He activated Ghost Pupil at once and looked toward the depths.
“A Seven-Treasure Glazed Stone!” Liu Wuxie spotted a seven-colored gem resting at the bottom of the pool. Each color carried a different energy: gold carried immortal energy, purple carried the purple-indigo aura, white carried pure yang energy, and so on.
Those seven colors overlapped and braided together. The Seven-Treasure Glazed Stone couldn’t have formed naturally in the astral domain, and Liu Wuxie didn’t know where the Immortal Slaughter Palace had obtained it.
He sat at the pool’s edge and let the ink-green water rise to his neck. At the same time, he secretly summoned the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron and sent it down into the depths. He had considered taking the Seven-Treasure Glazed Stone outright, but he knew that move would expose him. For now, he prioritized strengthening his cultivation.
He needed to reach the Heaven Gaze Realm before he could contend with quasi-immortals, and he couldn’t afford to waste time.
Seven different energies streamed into his body, and the cracks within him began to close rapidly. Even without the Seven-Treasure Glazed Stone’s help, his injuries had never truly threatened him.
His “cultivation” climbed as well, rising from the fourth-level Origin Conversion Realm to the sixth. He did that deliberately for Niu Yichang’s eyes. If he absorbed such energy without a breakthrough, no one would believe it.
The Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron hovered above the Seven-Treasure Glazed Stone and devoured its power at a terrifying pace. Boundless energy poured into the cauldron and separated into seven distinct streams. Even so, Liu Wuxie didn’t dare to break through to the ninth-level Earth Immortal Realm here.
He knew the instant he broke through, his true essence would leak out, and that would expose him to the Immortal Slaughter Palace. Besides the palace lord, the Immortal Slaughter Palace still had many quasi-immortals. If they noticed him, escape would become impossible. He had to keep his caution. He could wait for nightfall, enter the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron, and break through safely there.
Time slipped by. The energy in the Heavenly Aquatic Pool still felt thick and abundant, yet the Seven-Treasure Glazed Stone’s reserves steadily dwindled.
Liu Wuxie needed to leave behind the illusion that the pool remained unchanged. If anyone noticed the pool thinning now, suspicion would immediately fall on him. But if the change became obvious ten days later, no one would connect it to him.
Even a quasi-immortal couldn’t absorb all the Seven-Treasure Glazed Stone’s power in a few days, yet the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron accomplished it in an hour. After Liu Wuxie drained seventy percent of its energy, that power transformed into a seven-colored river that surged within the cauldron.
Right at that moment, several elders appeared outside the palace.
